Francois Louw has been named on the bench once again for South Africa, as they prepare for their deciding Pool D clash against Samoa on Friday.

The side is captained by Victor Matfield, who returns from a hamstring strain – after a two-match absence – as one of seven changes to the team that defeated Namibia 87-0 at the same venue on Thursday.

He assumes the captaincy in place of John Smit, who drops to the bench, in a pre-planned move to allow Bismarck du Plessis to start his first match of the tournament.

The Springboks need at least one point from the match to be sure of qualifying for the quarterfinals.

There are five changes in the pack as Du Plessis is partnered with the returning Tendai Mtawarira and brother Jannie du Plessis in an all-Sharks front row. The final change among the forwards sees the return of Heinrich Brüssow to the back row.

Bakkies Botha was unavailable for selection after injuring a hamstring against Namibia but the remaining four forwards (Smit, CJ van der Linde, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Willem Alberts) all drop to the bench.

JP Pietersen and Fourie du Preez return to the starting line-up among the back division while the versatile Francois Hougaard drops to the bench where he is joined by the fit-again Jean de Villiers as the two backline replacements in a 5/2 split on the bench.

Friday's match kicks off at 20h30 (08h30 UK time).

South Africa v Samoa, 30 September 2011, North Harbour Stadium, Auckland  

15      Pat Lambie     KwaZulu-Natal         

14      JP Pietersen   KwaZulu-Natal         

13      Jaque Fourie   Western Province     

12      Frans Steyn   Racing Metro, France         

11      Bryan Habana Western Province     

10      Morné Steyn  Blue Bulls      

9        Fourie du Preez        Blue Bulls      

8        Pierre Spies    Blue Bulls      

7        Schalk Burger Western Province     

6        Heinrich Brüssow       Free State    

5        Victor Matfield (captain)      Blue Bulls      

4        Danie Rossouw         Blue Bulls      

3        Jannie du Plessis       KwaZulu-Natal         

2        Bismarck du Plessis    KwaZulu-Natal         

1        Tendai Mtawarira      KwaZulu-Natal         

Replacements

16      John Smit                KwaZulu-Natal

17      Gurthrö Steenkamp   Blue Bulls      

18      CJ van der Linde       Golden Lions  

19      Willem Alberts KwaZulu-Natal         

20      Francois Louw          Bath, England

21      Francois Hougaard    Blue Bulls      

22      Jean de Villiers         Western Province